Leilani Joseph, from Rialto, Calif., tries to sleep in the atrium at Orlando International Airport on a day that saw severe weather move across the Florida peninsula, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. Travel nationwide is expected to increase by 4.4 percent this year, the trade group AAA estimates. (Joe Burbank / AP)

This year could break records for the number of holiday travelers, and the possibility of snow could make traffic worse.

In a report issued earlier this month, the national travel trade group AAA estimated a 4.4 percent increase in holiday-season driving and flying compared to last year.

In the Inland Northwest, AAA expects to rescue 17,000 of its members between Dec. 22 and Jan. 21, said Kathleen Vickers, spokeswoman for AAA Washington.

“So much of what we see is weather-related or simple automotive problems,” she said.

About 40 percent of the local rescues are tows, 29 percent are for battery problems and 13 percent are for lockouts, she said.

But simple car maintenance like checking tire tread, fluid levels and battery life can tell what needs to be fixed before traveling.

Vickers said travelers should expect congested highways until after Christmas. Travel times in Seattle could be up to four times longer than usual, according to INRIX, a global mobility analytics company.

Weather is also going to be a factor in the holiday travel season.

The chances for snow on Christmas are at about 20 percent, said Mark Turner, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Spokane.

Leading up to Christmas, temperatures will be mostly above freezing but could dip below that.

“We’re in a pretty wet and wild pattern right now with a Pacific storm marching across the area,” Turner said. “Sometime between now and Christmas, snow levels are expected to reach the valley floor.”

Turner warned drivers to expect lots of snow accumulation in the mountain passes.

“The mountains are getting pounded with snow,” he said, and the temperatures will stay mostly below freezing.

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The name Cohn has been associated with the furniture business for more than 130 years. The extensive Russian Jewish clan, along with several other families, arrived in Oregon in the 1870s after a long trek by wagon and on foot from North Dakota. The Spokane store was founded by Harry, Hyman and Joseph Cohn in 1895.